Editorial: GOP tax plan a good deal for most Americans

While it is far from perfect, it will give many a break and help the U.S. economy grow.

The Issue:

President Donald Trump signs a measure that overhauls the tax code.

Our Opinion:

While it is far from perfect, it will give many a break and help the economy grow.

The Republican tax bill expected to be signed soon by President Donald Trump could have used more time for consideration, more opportunity for bipartisan input and a few populist tweaks in line with Trump's campaign themes. But, overall, it's a pretty good deal for most Americans and should give the U.S. economy a boost. More than 80 percent of Americans will get a tax cut, the average calculated at $2,140 from 2018 through 2025.

The corporate rate, which needed a trim, will be reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent. The standard deduction is nearly doubled, which will simplify filing taxes starting in 2019 because the standard deduction, beyond creating a tax cut, will make the time-consuming task of itemizing pointless. And the child tax credit is doubled to $2,000 per child, up from today's $1,000.

On the downside are things that could have been done to guard against charges that the bill favors the rich. The carried-interest loophole Trump attacked as benefiting mainly hedge fund managers and private equity investors - a small item at $14 billion over 10 years - should have been eliminated. And the corporate rate cut could have been smaller, for the same reason.

Such criticism aside, Democratic attacks on the measure are in the main unjust. Arguing that a tax reform measure is unfair because it gives wealthy folks and corporations bigger reductions in dollar terms is based more on envy than math. Given that 47 percent of federal revenue comes from individual income taxes and our graduated system taxes the wealthy at higher rates, any tax reform that lowers rates is likely to have that effect. And lowering the corporate tax rate, 9 percent of federal revenues, is aimed at creating jobs. Realizing that most of the people who create jobs are on the higher end of income ladder, the American people are unlikely to mind the wealthy getting to keep more of their own money, especially if they're getting something, too. And the best "solution" to this problem, if it is one, would be to cut payroll taxes (which bring in 34 percent of federal revenue), a move at odds with leading Democrats' next big stated worry: that Republicans are planning to raid entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Cutting payroll taxes, which would have a greater impact on middle class wage earners, would deprive these programs of funding.

And you wouldn't have to do much raiding of entitlements to eliminate the Republican tax plan's $1.4 trillion in deficits over 10 years. According to government estimates, Medicare spending is expected to grow by $610 billion and Affordable Care Act eligibility alone will boost Medicaid spending by $625 billion in 2025. That's a $1.2 trillion boost in government health care spending in a single year.

If Democrats want to ride an argument to a congressional majority in next year's elections, they should try something other than envy and bad math.

A better target would be the measure's partisan, behind-closed-doors path to Trump's desk. Major policy change needs to be bipartisan, to avoid arguments like the one we've had for seven years over the Affordable Care Act. That measure's partisan path to passage and the repeal-and-replace backlash it caused have, along with some of the law's provisions, destabilized health insurance markets. Tax reform, and the American people, deserve better.